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Single Parenting and the Church

The church should be a source of support for the Single Parent.

Many single parents who are not widowed, or divorced have lived with a terrible stigma and disgrace placed on them by moralists whose values were more important to them than people. These sanctimonious people invite the single parent to church, then criticize that parent with reminders of the past. This causes feelings of hurt, disappointment and abandonment in the single parent by the church. The church should be there as a source of support and not to sit in judgment of others. Single parents have a lot to offer and the church needs to know that.

The support from the church should make the single parent feel valued and important. The single parent should not be cast aside and treated as if he or she is inferior. The church needs to realize that God loves single parents; that is why he gives his name to the nameless, legitimizes the illegitimate, becomes a mother to the motherless and a father to the fatherless. A single parent is special too. God did not create insignificant people. We are all equal in God's sight.

Sometimes the church will not recognize single parent's efforts and may treat them with indifference. You may try to work in a department in the church, giving it your all and still not be recognized for the good you are doing. It is hard working endlessly, and never having someone acknowledge your accomplishments. In spite of your unrecognized efforts by the church, God's grace is sufficient for you.

The church is a house of worship. Single parents should find a church and make that church their house of worship. Whatever your feelings about the attitudes you may encounter at church, you should go to church. It might seem easier to the single parent to not attend the Sunday services, to stay at home, watch a church program on television, and avoid the stares and glances by others in the church, because she might not have a new dress or shoes, or his apparel might be last year's look. But you must rise above that. God does not care about your designer suit, hat, shoes or the cost of it.

You should go to church, take your children to church, teach your children to pray and let them hear you pray. Their prayers will have more meaning and they will be able to understand and know who God is by your example. Your children need to know that God is merciful, not materialistic. Appearances do not matter. God is a God of love and not a God of confusion. He only asks that we give him our hearts. God's word tells us that a broken and a contrite heart He will not despise.

A single parent might be hoping to find acceptance and solace in the church. The support from the church should make the single parent feel valued, lift their self-esteem and motivate them. Single parents should practice tithing. You do not have to belong to a particular church to do this. When God blesses, He blesses everyone including, the single parent. If you give God what is due to Him, He has promised to pour out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Single parents: do not miss the opportunity to receive your blessings.